Valve



Sept. 25, 1951 R. FENNEMA ETAL 2,569,412

VALVE Filed Feb. 5, 1945 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f @il 9 27206273 075;@Mara/jm@ Sept. 25, 1951 R. FENNEMA :a1-Al.

Filed Feb. 5. 1945 solid wedge 'disc in which"theobjections-referredPatented Sept. 25, 1951 @UNITED Y PATENT o1-erigere' cago,UIll.,:assignorsl to iafoorporationnf Illinois App'lication"February 3,1945,.,Seial"No.`57'6Q056 1`` Claim. 1 This invention relates to'valves:andis-anjim- 'provement over our patent 'application4 identified asSerial No. 502,062, filed'September 11, -1943, vnow Y abandoned. More`particularly, 4'it `pertains toa novel form Iofcombined'supportandfactuating means for elastic discs or closure-membersforuse with gatevalves orlthe like. Heretofore in gatevalves `thesolid'wedgetype-of-valve-closuremembervwith a conventionaltapered-constructionrhas been largely -employed. However, vthelatter-construction has beenfound unsatislfactory in manyinstancesbecause ofthe inability of the actuatingfmeans, suchasthevalve stem, to.adjustitselireadilyfand easily to the flexing ofthe gate .valve closuremember when being seated. Accordingly in a, number ofcases, `because ofsuchvfailure to.makeisuitable adjustment, there hasresulted-:substantialleakage. In -many cases, too, asa result of'suchinability of the combined stem and valve closurefmember to .becomeadjusted accuratelyfto 4the taperof the seat in the valve body, I.userswho under `emergency conditions may v,make their own vrepairs have beenunable `togeifectv-the necessary valve seat tightness when substituting.fa vnew ,closure member for the old one being vlreplaced. Withthepresent invention there is vaflorde'da greater opportunity to makesuch .adjustmentsuccessfully. Also mnumerousypastinstances it haslbeenfound in assembling a.. solid wedge closure member in a body made eitheras'a'forging oras a casting that there wasnot suicientresiliency toallow for desirable seat tightnessgor else 'such closure memberresiliency has occurred at vobjecticnable, inconsistent locations.within Jthe casing to result invalve' leakage.

It is'therefore an important objectof thisV invention to p-rovide a`novel gate valvemclosure member together withv VaStem actuating imeansas an eiectivey substitute for the nconventional to 'have been clearlyVovercome and which; inf-a-d- 2 LIt is a further importantobj ect of'this' invention Lto'tturnish a'unique .valve closure'member in whichthe latterisdesigned to provide substantially 'uniform 'flexibility inVall directions when seatedswithin' the casing, the lower'portion `ofthe :actu-ating stemnormallybearing simultaneously against -both 'halvesof vthe resilient Vclosure Y'member when the'latter is being seated tothereby'a-pply a uniform load uponeach member. It is also an object '"toprovide a resilient cr flexible closure memberV and stem vactuatingrmeans. which avoids objectionable stickingin the body when theclosuremember is seated at high temperatures'andsubsequently allowed tocool to atmospheric temperatures. In previous installations suchstickinghas occurred with the conventional solid wedge` tapered closure memberto render the Operation'thereof frequently difcult.

` Other objects and-advantages will become more readily apparent uponproceeding with thefollowing specification readin accompaniment with thedrawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a closure memberembodying our invention.

V"ligfZ isa sectional view ofY tl'ie closure'mem- .ber takenon'the`line2-'2 of'Fig. l.

Figij3`is'a sectional view taken `onthe 'lmet-:3 ofFig'l.

-Fig. 4 is a modied form of closure member embodying our invention. Fig.5`is a'fragmentary vertical sectional View of a modified form of `ourinvention,

Figiis a sectional view of 'the' closuremember vtaken on thelinetJ-e ofFig. 5.

Similar -reference numerals refer to similar Y parts throughout'theiseveral views.

dition, `provides a uniquely f assembled structure, Y

'Referring now to Fig. 1, '.the'body or casing i fragmentarilyshownvisof -the usual gate valve type having the conventional end` portions (notshown) for connection` to a Ypipe line and-'provided with the usualvalveseats vuponwvhicl'i'the ,tapered'valve closure member makes`suitable sealingcontact when Vthe valve is in `its closed position asshown. ^The novel Y'closure'member embodyingour invention consistsAessentially of twoconnected partsynamely, the'smaller disc half portion'3 and the larger remaining half portion of the disc *designated 4,'eachof which is provided with the conventional valve seating surfaces 5'and' respectively, for engagement-with the"abutting"seatingfsurfaces `2of the casing.

' While in each case lthe closure nmember herein`discsmaybe"furnishedwith the-seatingsurf-aces integral. Similarly, theseating members 2 may be made integral rather than as separate rings asshown, if desired. It is preferable that the assembled discs should beof such construction as to lend themselves conveniently to a connectionwith the actuating means employed, such as a valve stem I5, the lowerportion of which is shown. Obviously this may be accomplished by otherthan lthe T-head arrangement illustrated. The important element is thatthe actuating means employed should serve not only to hold the discsproperly during actuation but also to support and spread the flexiblediscs during the seating operation. In the'latter connection it will benoted that the larger disc half portion 4, as shown more clearly in Fig.2, is provided at its upper limit with the cut-out extension I forsuitable engagement with the head I9 of the valve stem. As an importantelement of this invention, the larger disc half is preferably providedat its central axis with a shank portion 8 tting with suitable clearancewithin the aperture 9 of the closure member half 3. It is obvious thatthe shank 8 Iand the aperture 9 may be reversed in their relativepositions on the respective disc halves. The shank 8 is preferablyrounded at its lower portion as indicated at I0, thereby effecting asuitable bearing within the aperture. The smaller half portion 3 of theclosure member is thus assembled in'abutting contact with the remainingIhalf 4 of the closure member. Accordingly the end portion of the shank8 and also the annular surface lportion Yof the closure member half 3which surrounds the end of the shank is suitably formed to allow for theapplication of the annular weld designated II. By the latter arrangementthe weld is relieved of the stresses which are largely assumed by theshank 8 since the stress assumed by the weld is largely that of anannular hinge, permitting such de- Y ection of each of the disc halvesas may be available by the shank clearance within the aperture and theweld itself. It will further be 'apparent that by reason of the roundedcontact,

as at Ill, adjacent the base of the shank, the discs 1..,

relative to each other will be permitted substantial contact which alsoallows for adaptability to slight variations in the angle ofthe seat ofthe casing. This desirable result will be obtainable to a large degreebecause of `the-construction employed and irrespective ofwhether thematerial used -is of a resilient character as, for example, in aforging, or in soft metal, or whether it is made in a casting. The weldserves thus as the exible hinging element between vthe discs halves injoining them to form Yt'he complete closure and to seal against leakagetherepast. It is obvious that the weld may be .replaced by suitablesolder, brazing or similiarfluid sealing connecting means if desired.

The reciprocably movable stem I6 at its lower head -portion I9 ispreferablyrounded as at `I8 to provide supporting means with slightspreading upon the discs 4 in its contact with the slightly roundedcorner portions I1. This stemdisc arrangement has been found especiallydesirable in the resilient closure member construction in order toinsure a tight fluid sealing contact with the seating members 2,particularly at the upper or larger end of the seat tapersV Heretoforeit has been found that because Yof a failure to provide for suchcombined support'and spreading means, there was the objectionabletendency on the part of one or b oth discs .to cant slightly inwardly,and this was true especially when heavy .closing loads byf the''Stemware required, ,ill @l effort to make the valve seat tightly. Incontrast, it will be apparent that by our present method of arrangingthe contact between the stem and the closure members 4, the higher theload applied vby the stem in closing the valve the more support is givento the discs in bearing against their respective seats 2.

Referring now to the modified form of structure shown in Fig. 4, thearrangement is similar to that as described in connection with the othergures except that instead of employing the lntegral shank 8 a throughpin I2 extends through both halves of the closure members 3 and 4,thereby allowing for a weld to be made at each end of the pin andpreferably extending around the adjacent annular portion on each closuremember half. It will be apparent that the pin I2 serves in substantiallythe same manner as the integral shank 8 described in connection with theother figures.

Referring now to the modied form of our invention shown in Fig. 5, `thedisc closure members 4 are shown integrally joined `as at 2l. However,as distinguishedfrom the structure yshown and described in connectionwith Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive in which the connection between the stem andclosure member is made with but one of the discs, in the instantembodiment the hooked end 'Iis provided on both disc halves 4, and theintegrally formed wedge lugs 22 are provided with the preferably roundedkcorners I'I, the latter cooperating with the rounded portion I8 of thestem in a manner similar to that described in connection with theconstruction shown in Figs. l to 4. However, it will be apparent thatthe stem l5 in Fig. 5 is engaged at "I by both closure Vmember halves 4,which may be particularly desirable especially in large valves in orderto permit even lift or pull on both halves of the closure member duringthe valve opening operation. In other respects the support and spreadingeffect upon the closure member follows the teaching in Fig. 1. It shouldof course be obvious that the discrhalves 4 may be joined inthe mannerdescribed in earlier mentioned figures.

Accordingly it should be clear that our inventionY is capable ofnumerous changes within its scope. We desire therefore to be limitedonly to the extent of theclaim appended lhereto interpreted in the lightof the prior art.

We claim: n .A

In combination, a reciprocally movable wedgeshaped gate valve closuremember, converging valve seats fort-he ysaid Vclosure member,actuatinf,r means for the rclosure member including a depending invertedT-head with its inner end limits dened by a wedging surface portion,the'said closure -member comp-rising a pair of discs peripherally spacedvapart and being joined together in juxtaposed relation 'at a centralportion thereof, atleast-,one lof :said discs having oppositely disposed'upwardly projecting means -engageable with fa rear Vsurface portion ofthe said T--head for effecting the reciprocal movement of the lsaidclosuremember and'said discs having inner corner portionso ,theperiphery thereof adjacentn the base of the upwardly projecting meansprovided with inwardly and ydownwardly sloping `wedge surfaces, lthelatter surfaces normally lbearing against the-said wedging surface ofthe T-head. when the discs contact :the said fvalve seats and .uponslight continued movement of. theT-head-towad the discs a lateralforceis initiated bythe wedging surface portion of the T-head upon saidwedging" surfaces during termined spaced-apart relation in the closedor. l lseated position of the Valve.

RICHARD FENNEMA. FRANCIS J. CANTALUPO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 60,932 Peet Jan. 1, 1867 ,NumberNumber Name Date Wilson Apr. 13, 1869 Frisbie June 15, 1875 Comn Jan.18, 1881 Luckett Mar. 28, 1905 Castle Dec. 18, 1906 Black Apr. 12, 1927Taylor Dec. 29, 1936 Lunken Mar. 30, 1937 Currie June 21, 1938 HehemannMar. 19, 1940 Banowetz May 12, 1942 Sandilands Oct. 3, 1944 WennerbyFeb. 5, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date

